ALBAWABA- Authorities in India’s northeastern state of Manipur imposed a curfew and suspended internet services across Ukhrul district on Tuesday, after renewed ethnic violence erupted in the Hill region, forcing residents to flee and destroying dozens of homes.
The unrest, centered on Litan Sareikhong village in Ukhrul, a Naga-majority district bordering Myanmar, saw arson attacks and gunfire allegedly involving armed groups amid clashes between Naga and Kuki-Zo communities. Officials said more than 30 houses were torched, though no fatalities had been confirmed as of Tuesday. Security forces were deployed in strength, and prohibitory orders were enforced to prevent further escalation.
Manipur’s Home Department ordered a five-day shutdown of internet services, including mobile data, broadband, VPN, and VSAT connections, citing the risk of rumor-mongering and threats to public order. Authorities said the blackout was necessary to contain the spread of inflammatory content as tensions remained high.
The immediate trigger for the violence was an alleged assault over the weekend on a Tangkhul Naga man, identified as Sterling Shimray, which reportedly prompted retaliatory attacks. The episode marks a worrying expansion of Manipur’s long-running ethnic unrest, which has primarily pitted the valley-based Meitei community against the hill-based Kuki-Zo tribes since May 2023.
That broader conflict erupted after protests against Meitei demands for Scheduled Tribe status, a designation that would grant access to affirmative action benefits. Since then, violence has killed more than 260 people, displaced over 60,000, and devastated large swathes of the state, including homes and places of worship.
While Naga groups have largely remained outside the Meitei-Kuki confrontation, they have their own history of tension with Kukis, including violent clashes in the 1990s over land and territorial claims.
Recent weeks have seen a string of incidents underscoring Manipur’s fragility. In January, a Meitei man was killed in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, while clashes also broke out in Kangpokpi after Naga groups burned what they described as illegal Kuki poppy cultivation sites, triggering road blockades.
The violence comes amid a delicate political transition. President’s rule was lifted on February 4, 2026, and Yumnam Khemchand Singh was sworn in as chief minister at the head of a BJP-led coalition that includes Kuki and Naga representatives. However, protests in Kuki-dominated areas have denounced the new government as Meitei-leaning, deepening mistrust.
